# Calabash



## Joshcertain (Jun 1, 2009)

I am thinking about a Calabash Pipe. I love how over the top ridiculous they are. 
I wanna ask some questions before I buy though. 
Has anyone smoked one? I am looking at this one. Are Butz Choquin... good?

also isnt calabash a different kind of pipe? Not briar or something?

:blah: thanks


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## Alpedhuez55 (Dec 16, 2005)

The classics are made from a Calabash Gourd with a Porcelain or meer bowl in them. I have never owned a BC pipe, though there are a couple I would not mind owning!!! Never heard anything bad about them.


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## drastic_quench (Sep 12, 2008)

Just to clarify, the link you posted is for a briar pipe that's just carved in the calabash style. It'll smoke like any other briar, and you will get none of the benefits of a traditional gourd and meerschaum calabash. It's a fine pipe, but it's not a true 'bash.

You can read about gourd calabashes here: 
ASPipes > Shapes Chart

Combining all the great smoking properties of a meerschaum pipe with the gourd cooling chamber are what makes this pipe so prized.


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## Joshcertain (Jun 1, 2009)

So do these last? The idea of a gourd seems like it would break down....


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## drastic_quench (Sep 12, 2008)

Joshcertain said:


> So do these last? The idea of a gourd seems like it would break down....


Oh, yeah - they last. There are still antique gourds out there that - if properly treated - are still fine pipes. The calabash gourd is tough stuff, it's not like a cheapo Thanksgiving centerpiece gourd. There are gourd calabashes on Ebay, but I have no idea about their quality. I'd stick with a brand name, or find a quality antique.

http://www.pipesandcigars.com/calabash3.html


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## MrRogers (Jun 15, 2009)

I have 2 calabash pipes. One has a wooden body and a meer bowl and the other is a true gourd that I bought from the Connoisseur Pipe Shop maybe a decade ago. Both smoke very very cool and are probably best to smoke at home. Expect the natural gourd pipes to not be perfectly symmetrical. All part of their charm IMO.

MrR


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## Bear Graves (May 23, 2009)

On a certain level, I have to agree that the traditional calabash is ridiculous. The fact that it can take bowl, after bowl, after continuous bowl, and still deliver a cool, dry smoke that is on par with a three-week rested churchwarden is absurd (and yet they do). I love the taste neutrality of the meer, the jaw friendliness of the bent shape and I even love the opportunity to reply to people who blurt out "Sherlock Holmes!", "William Gillette, actually..." 

Always "Big on the Bash",

Da' Bear


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## Mister Moo (Sep 8, 2005)

Real-deal gourd/meerschaum calabash about 50-years old next to a 6" bulldog for scale:










"Microbash" 5-inch long meerschaum bowl in wooden "gourd" - cute but useless for all but a 10-minute sample smoke:










The big guy comes out on not-too-humid summer evenings, back porch, rocking chair... always a nice smoke from a somewhat oversized and mostly inconvenient pipe.

Maybe I'll fire it up tonight. Royal Yacht... Why Nacht? Thanks for the idea.


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## Zeabed (Apr 23, 2009)

I had a meer calabash just like the one in the top photo, which I bought circa 1969, while I was in college. I can't remember what happened to it; I think it either broke or was lost. Wouldn't even try to look for a good value on a present day calabash to replace it. You have to be careful when buying meer as you have to make sure it's made from a single meer block for it to be good. And those are expensive. Or so I'm told.


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## Mister Moo (Sep 8, 2005)

Look how Rad Davis began smoking pipes: http://www.raddavispipes.com/aboutUs.cfm

A passable Pioneer - they never go too pricey, not like some of the old Bauers or those with classier stems, etc. There were lots of 19th and early 20th century calabash pipes made in Austria and Germany. Many were of the highest quality and design but are essentially "no-name" pipes. Pioneers, easy to find, were commercial products and well made, not very ornate, plain brown wrapper big-a$$ pipes. Many auctions feature put-together parts or mods due to damage that has ocurred over the years. You can see from the photo the bowl is meer:

CALABASH GOURD PIPE w/ MEERSCHAUM BOWL - eBay (item 150352472336 end time Jun-21-09 16:51:38 PDT)

I always give failing marks to porcelain bowls (my taste); they usually look profoundly white and only show black scorch-like marking around the bowl, not the soft gradual darkening/shading you'd expect from meerschaum. Easy to spot, even in crappy ebay fotos.

VINTAGE CALABASH SHERLOCK HOLMES ESTATE SMOKING PIPE - eBay (item 140325869211 end time Jun-18-09 19:45:00 PDT)

Beware failed cork seals, sellers who don't know enough about the pipe to confirm airtightness or meer vs. porcelain, or wood vs. real calabash gourd. Some older pipes regularly sport silver ferrules or similar adornments. While this may imply a crack at the mortise or some other damage, it may (or may not) with a calabash. Caveat emptor on buying old pipes - esp. a calabash. Study the genre carefully before selecting and purchasing. Kaywoodie, not the first name that comes to mind for magnificent briar, made some stellar calabash pipes by the way. There are many fish in this sea.

Replacement meer bowls, both plain and carved, are available in varying outside diameters for $30 - $50 approx. Although they are easy to buy, it doesn't mean they are especially easy to fit, airtight, in any old calabash. Fitting a bowl and recorking, if necessary, is a task for someone with sharp Exacto tools and lots of patience, I am told. Sez I - not an expert.

:blah::blah::blah:


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## Joshcertain (Jun 1, 2009)

wow,  all this info makes me want a gourd calabash even more. 

I had no idea all the parts in a propper calabash.
Anything this complicated is a perfect addition to my collecton  

I am so getting one of these


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## Mister Moo (Sep 8, 2005)

Joshcertain said:


> wow... I am so getting one of these


Shop carefully to avoid disappointment. The cool factor just about balances out with the inconvenient factor. By the way, they don't exactly plop down neatly on a table - consider getting or making a stand. The true calabash goes well with stout english blends, pith helmets and pithier gin.


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## Mad Hatter (Apr 8, 2007)

Fikri Baki has a couple on his site, very nice, brand new and made with real gourd


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## SmokinJohnny (Jan 21, 2009)

I have meer gourd calabash I bought around 1983. I still smoke it today and dedicated it to bitey Virginian. The volume of the gourd acts as a cooling chamber for the smoke before entering the stem. Pipe gurgle is not an issue with gourds. As others posted, what you are looking at will smoke like any other briar as it does not have a cooling chamber like a gourd. I have been looking at the same variety of briar calabashes in Frenchy's site because it looks comfortable to hold while sitting and meditating (with legal tobacco of course). The mass of the bowl looks like it would dissapate heat well too.


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## sounds7 (Mar 25, 2009)

The irony of these kinds of threads is that you have recruited competition for those ebay calabashes. You will probably have a better time with prices once this subject has died on the forum.

P.S. see you on ebay:biggrin:


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## drastic_quench (Sep 12, 2008)

sounds7 said:


> The irony of these kinds of threads is that you have recruited competition for those ebay calabashes. You will probably have a better time with prices once this subject has died on the forum.
> 
> P.S. see you on ebay:biggrin:


Unless I am a 'bash dealer on Ebay, of course. hehe [not really]


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## Joshcertain (Jun 1, 2009)

I went ahead and got that Butz from Frenchy just cause I love the look.

I'll prolly get a real calabash later... buuutttt

What do yall think about the walnut carved calabash pipes? like this is there anything wrong with these? (not these particularly, but the concept)


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## Mister Moo (Sep 8, 2005)

Joshcertain said:


> What do yall think about the walnut carved calabash pipes?


Posers.


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## SmokinJohnny (Jan 21, 2009)

Mister Moo said:


> Posers.


Mr Moo, you need this!


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## Mister Moo (Sep 8, 2005)

SmokinJohnny said:


> Mr Moo, you need this!


Now we're getting somewhere. Definitely not a poser.


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